Posted on 09 Nov 2023
Billet prices in the United Arab Emirates are falling due to low rebar sales by secondary rebar re-rollers, notes Kallanish.
Last week, the UAE benchmark mill swept the rebar market after it allowed its buyers to book additional quantities of rebar at discounted prices. This limited other rebar suppliers to selling 60-70% of their monthly volumes in the local market.
This week, induction furnace-route billet producers have inched down their rebar-grade billet target prices by $5-10/tonne on-month to $525/t delivered within the country. Ex-Oman electric arc furnace-route rebar-grade billet offers are at $525/t delivered to customer yard in the UAE, for November deliveries.
Iran-origin 150mm 3sp billet offers are unchanged at $465-470/t fob; however, on a cfr basis, they have inched up slightly to $495-500/t cfr UAE ports (liner out) on the back of marine insurance rate hikes triggered by the war in Gaza.
Last week, an Omani buyer booked a 15,000-tonne parcel of multiple grades of billet at $520/t base delivered from a local supplier.
Domestic scrap quotes in UAE are trending up due to increased exports in containers via Bahrain destined for Bangladesh and Pakistan, despite the scrap export ban in UAE. The benchmark mill increased its scrap buying prices to AED 1,225/t ($334) for sheaBlack Sea PI export offers rise on scrapred, AED 1,275/t ($347) for premium (PNS) and AED 1,325/t ($361) for shredded.
Local induction furnace mills can still buy delivered scrap at AED 1,110-1,130/t ($305-308) for HMS 80:20 grade and fabrication at AED 1,200-1,230/t ($327-335). However, prices are expected to increase next week.
Source:Kallanish
